Dilemma

Here is where I’m at in my college search - I have it narrowed down to two schools, one being a large state school and the other a small, private school outside Boston. I want to major in finance and the private school is well known for being a top-tier undergrad business school, and I loved it when I visited. The state school (my brother attends, my dad went there, half my family went there) has a good undergrad business school at well, but I really don’t want to go there. Feels too big, didn’t like the campus,don’t want to go to the same school as my brother, not ranked nearly as high as the private school, I feel like I wouldn’t enjoy going there. It would cost $25k a year to go to the state school, my parents only have saved up $18k in total for all four years and are only willing to cosign a loan up to $19k for all four years, so I’d be looking at $80k in debt for myself out of the state school. The private school costs $31k a year for the first two years, and when my brother leaves school it’ll cost an additional $9k a year. Side note - the state school would most likely end up with me living/working in NYC (more expensive and less preferred than living in Boston w/ the private school). So I’d end up $40k in debt more in the private school than the state school but I’d also enjoy my four years there. The private school also has a substantially higher starting salary for my major than the state school. I guess I’m at a crossroads. I don’t know if I’d be in a good position financially to attend the private school, but I’ll still be in a ton of debt in the state school as well. I’m trying to see if I can take online classes over the summer via the private school to try and graduate early and save another years worth of tuition, or another option is ROTC but I’m not sure if that’s whats right for me (or if the deadline already passed, to be honest). I have my heart set on this private school. And time is ticking down for my decision. I just need some advice, to be blunt. (Side note x2, the school outside Boston is notorious for getting good internships, constantly ranked top 5 in the country, and has a 97% job placement rate within 6 months).

neither option is viable. You can not get $80K in loans without your parents co-signing. Do you have any affordable options? Maybe somewhere you can live at home and commute to or start at a CC for the first two years?

This doesn’t make any sense. Where are you going to get loans from? This is far too much debt for both schools.

It doesn’t look like any of these options are affordable. You’ll either need to get a scholarship somewhere or spend a couple years at community college.